Across My Memory
by gleeme33
Summary: Rachel, an orphan, sets out with her fellow orphans, Finn, Kurt, Quinn, and Puck, when they find a secret treasure map. But the special land they find is strangely familiar to Rachel, and she learns her past my not be what she remembers. Join the orphans on their journey to a land where most adults have ulterior motives, and special children are blessed with the power of the stars.
1. Chapter 1

**I need a new summer story, and I wanted something really different from any of my other stories. This is sort of an **_**Anastasia **_**meets **_**The Lion King **_**meets **_**Glee **_**story, with maybe some **_**Peter and The Starcatcher **_**and **_**Annie **_**thrown in. Have faith in me, readers, and pray that this works out. :) Thanks and enjoy.**

"…_And a song_

_A song one sings,_

_Once upon a December _

_Someone holds me safe and warm._

_Horses dance through a silver storm. _

_Figures dancing gracefully _

_Across my memory. _

_Far away, _

_Long ago, _

_Glowing dim as an ember._

_Things my heart used to know _

_Once upon a December _

_Someone holds me safe and warm._

_Horses prance through a silver storm. _

_Figures dancing gracefully _

_Across my memory…_" – _Once Upon A December _from: _Anastasia_

_Chapter One_

It was a dream, it always was.

"Mama!" Rachel called, for some reason, in a white gown. This is the first indication, once she wakes up of course, that this is a dream – she could never afford a _gown_ like this one. On her head, too, is sparkling tiara, decked out with diamonds. Lights from the stars in the dark night sky reflect off the water, below the bridge that she is running on. Her feet pitter-patter as she runs to catch up to…someone. Then, a boy appears. He always does. He has perfectly coiffed brown hair, the same shade as her own, and wears a deep green suit. He is maybe a year or two younger than Rachel herself.

"Rachel, where – ?"

But Rachel doesn't stop to hear the end of his question; she pushes past the guy – Blaine, his name is – and continues on her way.

"_Mama_!" She screamed again, but more desperately, as if she knew something was amiss. As she gets closer to the end of the bridge, a swarm of people – royals, like herself – are huddled together, yelling, crying, gasping –

_Splash._

Suddenly, she fell into the dark water below the bridge. Or, more accurately, she was _pushed_.

"Rachel!" Her little brother yowled, and pulled her from the water. "What happened? Are you alright?"

"Blaine…" she breathed once she reached the surface. "What happened, Blaine, did you see? Where's Mama? What _happened_?"

"I…dunno…" Blaine said, his eyes suddenly blank. "I…I saw…"

"What?" His sister tries to get to out of him. "What did you _see_?"

"_Oh_!" Comes a new voice. "Such a _pity_! Oh what a _shame_!" The woman emerging from the shadows now is Sue, who is Rachel and Blaine's aunt. "Oh, my big sister – _taken _so _ruthlessly _from this world!"

"_What_?" Rachel demands.

"Didn't you see, child?" Her aunt presses her. "Oh, _tut _– _tut _– _tut_!" She grasps Rachel's chin in her hands before the girl pulls away. "You poor thing!" Then, to both siblings: "Oh, you poor dears! _Children _should never burry their _mother_!"

"You're _lying_!" Blaine snapped. "No – _no_! She isn't – she _can't _be – !"

"Oh, child, but _she is_!" Sue continued. "And well – I suppose you have a new Queen in our midst, don't we?" Then, she pointed to herself royally.

"You mean _my sister_!" Blaine yelled, full of anger. "If anyone is Queen now – if you're even telling the truth – it's _Rachel_!" His sister, however, had grown silent. Sue seemed unfazed, at first – then, she sneered at the siblings, and cackled.

"_Run_," their aunt whispered demonically. "_Run_ – run away from here and _never return_…or you too will meet the same fate as your mother."

Rachel woke up in the orphanage, just as she does every morning, with sweat on her brow and tears in her eyes.

"Rachel?" It was always Kurt that comes to her rescue when she wakes from this dream – or, nightmare. "Bad dream?"

"Yeah…" she sighed as she sat up in her worn-out, dusty bed. "Bad dream."

"It's alright…" Kurt said soothingly, climbing up next to her. "It's over now. Want to hear about _my _dream? It was _wonderful_!"

"Sure," she said. Anything to get her nightmare out of her head.

"I dreamed…I could fly," Kurt said, with a perfectly happy twinkle in his eyes. "I was flying, Rachel, I was _flying_!"

"I'm sure you were," she reassured him, her scared expression turning into a soft smile. "Now let's wake the others before Ms. Washington sees they're not awake."

Ross Washington – but, to the orphans, Ms. Washington – was the woman who ran the orphanage. Rachel didn't know why, however, seeing as she all but _hated _children. The orphans she was closest with included Kurt, and other than him there was Tina, Finn, Quinn, Santana, Brittany, Rory, Mike, and Noah, who went by 'Puck'. The other orphans, who Rachel didn't know that well, included Molly, Peter, Jack, and Katherine. They kept to themselves most of the time and the only thing Rachel knew about them, really, was their names.

"We all dream we can fly at one time, Kurt," Rachel continued. "I have. But then, our dreams change as we grow – we can't control it, but God, I wish we could. Be happy you can still dream about flying." With that, she clean ripped the sheets off of Quinn's bed to get her out of it – Quinn could sleep for days if they let her.

"Okay, _okay_!" She stumbled to her feet. "I'm up, I'm _up_…"

"Hey, Rachel," It was Finn's voice. He came up to her, sneaking in from the other room. In his hand, he held a long piece of rolled-up paper.

"What's that?" Rachel asked him.

"I…uh…" he started. "I can't show you here…" he whispered in her ear, not to offend Kurt and Quinn. "Meet me in the attic. I'll wait for you there."

And, at the first chance she had to slip away from the others, Rachel snuck off to the attic, only to find Finn there with his long paper unrolled before them.

"Look at this!" He yowled, and came over to what it was. Turns out, it looked like a map – a map of some mythical place she'd never seen before.

"What is – where did you get this?"

"I found it," he shrugged. "When I woke up this morning, it was under my pillow. Weird, huh?"

"Yeah…weird…"

"Okay, so how do we get here?"

"_What_?" Rachel's eyes widened. "You wanna _go _there?"

"Aren't you looking at it? This is a _treasure _map, Rachel! We could be rich! We could get out of this place and never look back!"

"But…how?"

"Look, see this?" Finn pointed out the key on the map. "It's all lied out, right here. We just need to find a boat, and – why aren't you more excited about this?"

"I dunno – should I be?"

"_Yes_!" Finn exclaimed. "Do you realize what this is? Rachel – this is a map out of here forever. This is a map to your dreams."

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	2. Chapter 2

**I'm really liking the start of this. Please remember to review to tell me what you think. Thanks and enjoy.**

"…_And I'm gonna be free,_

_I'm gonna be free_

_I'm walking on moonbeams_

_And staring out to sea_

_And if a door be closed,_

_Then a road for home start building, _

_And tear your curtains down_

_For sunlight is like gold_

_And you better be you,_

_And do what you can do_

_When you're walking on moonbeams_

_Staring out to sea…_" – _Once _

_Chapter Two_

Blaine and Rachel's mother was the most beautiful, breathtaking woman that Star Land had ever seen. She had piercing green, emerald eyes, and long, dark hair, and everyone loved her – she was their Beloved Queen, the people's everything. She, her daughter Rachel, her son Blaine, and the rest of the royal family lived in a palace, right on the coast of Moon Lake, the mystical dark waters where you could see the reflection of the night sky. The Queen took her children, when they were young, to this very place one night when they were both still very young; they sat on the bank and saw their own reflections in the pool of starlight.

"One day," their mother told them, kneeling down beside them. "I won't be here anymore. And it'll be your turn."

"You mean _Rachel's _turn…" Blaine murmured under his breath, and when it was clear that the other two members of his family heard him, he added: "it's true! I'll never be _anything_ – Rachel's older than me, _she'll _be _Queen _and what'll that make me?"

"_You_, my son," his mother stroked his hair with her loving hand. "Will be the bravest vanguard that Star Land has ever known. Can you do that for me, Blaine? One day, when you're grown up, can you protect your people?"

"I don't ever wanna grow up, Mama!" He protested.

"Well, that's your choice…" his mother continued. "But if you should ever choose to grow up, know that you will be a great, great protector, young man." She smiled with genuine pride and kissed her son's forehead. Rachel kept her eyes on the dancing stars in the water – during the daytime, when there is no reflection, it is calm as any lake is, but now, when the stars took their place in the water, it lapped at her toes and feet like ocean waves would.

"And…and what about me, Mama?" Rachel asked, still gazing at the water. "I…I wanna be brave and strong, like you. But I'm not. I wanna grow up and be just like you! I wanna…I wanna change things – bad things – and make 'em good."

"You will one day, if you wish it," her mother answered. "Keep your eyes on the water – you too, Blaine," and her son's eyes watched the lake water just as intently as his sister's did. "See that, the way the stars all line up that way, how bright they shine tonight? That's not random, they're here for you now, like they were for me and my sister when we were your age. Now close your eyes, and count backwards from five…"

Rachel's mother's voice started to fade. She saw flashes of…she didn't know what. _Beauty_. She wished she could catch these beautiful, shinning gold stars she saw, bottle them, and keep them forever.

_Five, four…_

It all rushed by her eyes as if she were in a completely different place – a world made completely out of light. The starlight was not only around her now, it was glimmering off of her – off the palms of her hands, off her cheeks, and in her eyes…

_Three, two_…

All she saw – all she needed to see, wanted to see – was _light_.

_One_.

Rachel, back at the orphanage in Lima, Ohio, woke up the way she usually does – with a start. She opened her eyes to find that she and Finn were alone, still in the attic.

"_Finn_!" She shook him until he opened his hazel eyes. "We fell back asleep! What time is it? The others – "

" – It's okay, Rachel, calm down," Finn interrupted her. "Ms. Washington's gone for the day, don't you remember?"

"She's g – no, I don't remember…"

"She told us yesterday that she'd be gone. After bed inspections, remember? She won't know a thing. Besides, I…I like it like this. Just the two of us. It's, uh, it's…nice."

_Nice?_ Rachel thought. Finn, the boy with the dopy half-grin was saying spending time alone with her was…_nice_?

"How are we gonna get our hands on boat?" Finn asked as they climbed the stairs back down from the attic. "We can get out through the harbor, out to Lake Erie, but where are we gonna get a boat?"

"You're not serious about this, are you?" She asked him as they reached one of the two bedrooms. "It's not a _real _treasure map, Finn, it's probably just one of the younger kids' toys."

"How can you pass up an opportunity like this without even _trying _to believe in it?" He questioned. "_Washington_ and her _goons _whip us everyday! We don't have clean beds or clothes and hardly get enough food and water – it's _no wonder _nobody ever gets _adopted_! Who would want _rejects _from the Lima Wayward Orphanage? _Nobody_, that's who! But I'm not waitin' around anymore! I thought I could wait it out – I'll be eighteen in less then a year now – but I can't take this anymore!"

"So…you're just gonna – what, _leave_? Follow a map that you just _magically _found under your pillow? You're not even gonna question it – not to mention what could happen to you out there! Yeah, we're abused here, but at least we got a roof over our heads! We hardly get fed, but at least we _do _get fed! We have dirty clothes and bed that are falling apart, but at least we have clothes and beds at all! What are you gonna have out on your own, Finn? Nothing!"

"Nothing's better then _this_," Finn said gravely. "Maybe…maybe one day I'll turn nothing into something. Maybe one day I'll figure a last name for myself, maybe one day I'll have a family, and money, and a job. But today…I can't take anymore of _this_. Now, I'm _leaving_, Rachel. Are you coming with me, or are you staying here?"

"Rachel?" Came Quinn's voice. The blonde girl grabbed her arm and said: "It's Kurt again – that damned fever's back. We oughta file a complaint and get him to a doctor – "

" – Ms. Washington would rather have him die then pay for him to see a doctor!" Rachel followed her to Kurt's bed, where he was lying again. She put her hand on his cheeks and forehead – he was clearly burning up again. "Who can swipe some orange juice?"

"I got some," Puck spoke up, and handed her the small _Minute Made _juice box. "Swiped it last week when I snuck out. Got some fruit snacks, too…"

"Got any medicine?"

"No," he responded. "But I can go now and steal enough."

"That'd be great," Rachel said, her eyes flicking from Kurt, to Finn, to Puck. "Take someone with you…"

"I'll go with him!" Quinn volunteered. They headed for the door and she added to the boy in bed: "Be strong, Kurt," and they left. Usually, the orphans couldn't sneak out by just simply using the door – they'd have to get out by a cracked window, or that type of means, but with Ms. Washington gone for the day, all bets were off.

"Why does his fever keep coming back?" Finn whispered to Rachel, not to alarm Kurt.

"Because we can't treat it right, that's why," she answered. "It's not just a fever, he's gotta have a real sickness – what it is, though, I couldn't tell you. We've gotta do the best we can for him, to keep his strength up." Then, to Kurt: "Here, Kurt, drink some juice, will you? It'll help, really it will…" the boy did what he was told, and then Rachel added: "Now, until Puck and Quinn get back, can you try to sleep for me? Dream about flying again…"

"Rachel, it's no use. I keep on getting sick," Kurt whispered. "It's not going to go away. It'll go, come back, go, come back…what's the use?"

"The _use_? The use is that we are _going _to get you _well_, that's the use! Now, please, Kurt…close your eyes…" Rachel stroked his hair back with her loving hand. "Dream about flying, again. Dream about flying…"

Rachel didn't know if Finn had a point or not…but right now, she's _couldn't _leave. These kids were her responsibility – she had to stay here, in this land of nothing, for them.

**What do you think? Review, please!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys, here's chapter three. Remember to review, otherwise I won't know what you think of the story. Thanks and enjoy.**

"_Storybooks are based on what? Imagination. Where does it come from? It has to come from somewhere. Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire; you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will. This is a real world. There are infinite more. You have to open your mind. They touch one another, pressing up in a long line of lands, each just as real as the last; all have their own rules. Some have magic, some don't, and some need magic. Like this one." _– Jefferson/The Mad Hatter, _Once Upon A Time_

_Chapter Three_

Will Schuster was the name of Blaine and Rachel's Teacher – yes, _T_eacher, with a capitol _T_. This '_T_' is significant because, just like all children before them, this man was assigned to not only teach them the lessons learned from books and knowledge, but the lessons learned by opening ones mind, by creating something out of nothing, by having blind faith, etc. The arguably most important lessons the children would learn, however, were the ones that detailed that with great power – and they certainly had _great _power – comes great responsibility. Just that very quote was scribbled on Will's blackboard this morning.

"Unfortunately, the lesson I'm about to teach you today flies out of the head's of some of my students once they choose to claim adulthood," he said. "As you know, children, in this world you don't have to choose to grow up – once you reach your seventeenth year, that choice will be up to you. But do you know why most grown ups choose it?"

They shook their heads 'no'.

"Because they don't remember – or, don't _choose _to remember – the lesson you will learn today. Mark this on your memories: you are gifted. You truly, truly _are_. But what you choose to _do _with those gifts – whether that be good or evil, nothing or something – is what defines _how _gifted you truly are. Understand?"

They shook their heads 'yes'.

Rachel knew of people who let their powers corrupt them – one person, in particular, not only let her power corrupt her, but change her completely. Her aunt, Sue, used to be a kind, loving person just like her mother – but she was a prime example of someone who let her powers change her into something she wasn't – evil. All the other members of the royal family lived together in peace – Sue, however, was cast out long ago. As for what she was cast out for, Rachel's mother always told her the same thing: 'I'll tell you when you're older'.

"Mr. Schue, are we done yet?" Blaine asked impatiently after about two hours of classes; it was just starting to get dark. The children, now about fourteen and thirteen, had grown easily intolerant with their classes, and the night sky had now started to become a distracting factor for them. Blaine was a little on the young side, but it happened right around puberty – being out in the night, under the stars, was no longer only _fun_, it became a _want_, and a _need_. The stars were their power source; the stars were everything to them.

"Yes, yes – you may go now." The siblings brightened. "But remember what I said!" With his last words to them, they burst out the doors of the window-covered room they had classes in – it was on the lower level of their family's palace, so the prince and princess only had to look at each other before they both silently confirmed that it was a race to the rooftop.

"Three…two…one…_go_!"

They raced up the first white marble flights of swirling stairs until:

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Where do you two think you're going?" It was Shannon Beiste, the woman their mother hired to be their advisor. To the kids, though, she was more like a hall monitor on a power trip these days. Rachel started:

"We're – "

"Going inside? Oh, good. Go on now."

"But – "

"But nothing!" Blaine was interrupted. "The rules are the rules, and you're mother specifically said your curfew is – "

"But Shannon, _please_!" Rachel begged. "Please, _please_! We _need _to go out, we _need _to! I _need _to be under the stars! I…I can't explain it…they make me feel…what's the word? They make me feel…_free_."

"Well…"

"_Please_!" They both said together.

"Okay, alright! Fine!" Shannon gave in. "But take Jesse with you!"

"_Ew_, no!" Rachel spat. "Why _Jesse_?" Jesse was the son of their mother's main advisor. To Rachel, he was an arrogant brownnoser.

"Because, Rachel, I've been through this with you," she continued as she walked the siblings closer to the floor their rooms were on. "You and Jesse are betrothed."

"I still don't know what you exactly mean by that…you would never tell me!"

"Betrothed meaning engaged. You two are going to be married one day. Your mother and I have been through this with you!"

"I – I – _no_!" She refused to believe it. "I can't marry Jesse, I don't even _like _him! I _hate _him!"

"There's a fine, fine line between love and hate," Shannon continued, nodding.

"Don't look at me!" Blaine threw his arms up in the air. "I'm gay! I've told you this!"

"Yes, Blaine, you're betrothed to his brother, Sebastian. Why do you before just look over this?"

"Because we don't want to believe it!" Blaine snapped, and the three of them reached the floor that their rooms were on. "And we are _not _taking _Jesse_! If my sister doesn't want to be around him, then she _won't_! Because, guess what? _She's _your future _Queen_!" He carried on. "You shouldn't be enforcing rules on her, you should be _bowing _to her!" Shannon ignored the comment and simply said:

"You two, go tell your mother why you aren't coming in, and don't you dare go back out without Jesse or Sebastian with you. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes," Rachel said in a small voice. Blaine, however, only huffed. Once inside, Rachel found her mother right away; the Queen was clutching onto a silver necklace, with a star pendent on it. "Mom?" She turned around at that. "Is it okay if Blaine and I go out? Shannon said to ask you after we tried to talk to her…are you okay?"

"Yes, Rachel, I'm fine," she said, but her big eyes were filled with sadness. "Did I ever tell you how your father died?"

"No," Rachel said.

"He was very strong, you have to know that. Your father…he was a very noble man. He was the vanguard of our military – it was a dark, dark time, a time you should never have to hear about. It…" she hesitated. "It was called the Dark Stage. Horrible darkness had come to this land. Your grandfather, our King, had just died the day before, I had only just become Queen…your father, he gave his life to restore peace to our land."

"He did?"

"Yes," she nodded. "It was his sacrifice that drove away the darkness, and put an end to the leader that was behind it. Do you know why?"

"No, why?"

"It was love, Rachel. He sacrificed himself out of pure love."

"Wow…" her daughter mused. "That's…that's so _brave_, Mama…"

"It was," she agreed. "Soon after I found out I was pregnant with you, and I knew you'd be just like him."

"But…but I'm not that brave!"

"Maybe not," her mother said. "But you will be. Here," she said, and unhooked the necklace she was clutching before. The Queen put it around her daughter's neck, and placed the charm in her hand. "Your father gave this to me before we got married. It's yours now."

At the orphanage, Rachel held onto the star charm on her necklace so hard that it made an imprint on her hand. She didn't know where she got it, but she had always had it. Rachel didn't know why, but it was special to her. She had finally sung Kurt back to sleep, when a sharp whistle alarmed everyone with what was to come: Ross Washington was back. Everyone immediately snapped to intention, except for Kurt, who was finally sleeping.

"Fall in line!" Boomed Ross as she walked down the aisle they created, banging her switch in her hand.

"Welcome back, Ms. Washington," they all said together.

Rachel's mind raced – Kurt was feverish and asleep, and Puck and Quinn were still gone. She clutched onto her star necklace ever harder.

This would not end well.

**Review?**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys, I'm going on vacation, leaving tomorrow, so this'll be the last thing I update for at least ten days. Remember to review, thanks and enjoy.**

"…_You have forgotten who you are…look inside yourself…you are more than what you have become!_" – _The Lion King_

_Chapter Four_

"_Rachel_!" Blaine yowled, trying to catch up to his sister. Even dripping wet and terrified, she was still just a bit faster than he was. _She always was_, he thinks, remembering when they would race when they were younger – but this was no time for memories. "Wait! Please, Rachel – "

"No!" She yelled, turning around to face him, though she was a few feet ahead of him. "_No_, Blaine!"

"Didn't you _hear _Sue? If Mom's dead – "

"She's _not_! She can't be _dead_!"

"But if she is, Rach, it's up to you to abdicate the throne," he said as calmly as he could, knowing the princess was not only scared for her life, but now thrown into such a dark place she could do something unthinkable…

"Tell them I'm dead."

"_What_?" Blaine could not believe the words that just came out of her mouth.

"Tell them I'm dead," she repeated. "Then you can – "

"I'll never be King," he snapped. "You know it! You've always known I'm not your biological brother!" Rachel, stricken, mumbled:

"How…how did you – "

"What, find out?" He prompted. "Doesn't matter. Mom took me when I was a baby because the whole royal court knew that my _birth-mother_ would only raise me to overthrow my _real mother_ – that's right. _Sue_. I'm _her _son, Rachel, and you've known all along! Mom told you, didn't she? When she gave you her necklace – the Family Crest…you knew before I did! You – "

"I don't care whose son you are!" Rachel screamed. "And neither did – _does _– Mom! No matter what, you're my _brother_, and you're _her son_! You know that!"

"I know…" he spoke slowly. "I'm…I'm not vengeful…but Rachel, please…" he took a deep breath, and continued at the same slow pace. "We _need _you. Your people _need you_…" he was terrified that he still wasn't breaking through to her. "My sister…my Queen…" he stopped, and bowed to her, just as he'd seen every member of their military do to his mother – not his _birth-mother_, but his _mother_, the woman who was always there, always so, so brave.

"I…_no…_" his sister whispered, her world spiraling out of control before her very eyes. Her palms started to glow, like two tiny beacons of warm, gold light. "No…" her the tiara she wore on her head, which was silver before, suddenly turned a deep gold, and glowed just as her hands were. "I…I _can't_! I'm…_no_! I'm not the Queen, I _can't _be! I'm sixteen years old – I can't protect my nation of people – I…I _can't_…"

But as she spoke, something terrible was happening.

As the two siblings stood just outside the kingdom's borders, madness was brewing at the greedy, angry, evil hands of their aunt. The stars, which were bright and reflective as they always are in Star Land, were suddenly covered with a horrifying darkness, masking every light in it's path. The Darkness sparked red, as if bolts of anger jolted through it, and a high-pitched cackling was heard distinctly in the distance. Blaine's suit, which before was a deep green, had suddenly become a deep blue with red and silver trim – the starlight shone off his uniform-like garb as if they were safe there, guarded from The Darkness, worn now by Blaine as shinning badges. But the stars weren't just _around _the royal siblings anymore – it was if they were one with the stars, giving off traces of light from all around them, and _them _only.

"But…Blaine…" Rachel whispered. "Y-you're only fifteen! And I'm only sixteen! We're not supposed to choose our paths until our seventeenth year!"

"Sometimes, our paths choose us."

"No…_no_, I _can't_ – "

"_Rachel_!" Her brother interrupted. "Do you remember, when we were young and Mama took us to Moon Lake, and the stars gave us our powers? What did you _see_, Rachel?"

"I…I saw…"

She thought back to that night by the lake with her mother and brother – when the Queen counted down from five and she starred at the stars' reflections, only to be almost sucked into them herself – for those beautiful five seconds, she wasn't just covered in light, it was as if she had _become _light, fearless and beautiful, just and radiant…

"You saw…?"

Then, Rachel thought of seeing her aunt back on royal grounds. She knew it would mean trouble – she could _feel _it – but she never thought it'd lead to…_this_! Rachel never thought there was any _trouble _that her mother couldn't fix. She's thankful, in a strange way, that she was pushed into the very lake that gave her her powers years before. She's thankful that she didn't see her mother murdered. No, she decides, perhaps Sue had already done it, and Rachel was only racing toward her mother's body – she shivers at the thought, but Sue could not killed the Beloved Queen without a sound, and that fast. Perhaps she was too late. Her mother was already…_dead_. Rachel, now totally caught in her thoughts, remembered the day her mother told her about her father's death, gave her the Family Crest for the first time, and told her about her brother's real past. She decided that she would not tell him – it would be unbearable for him at a younger age. She thought about hearing the horror stories of the Dark Stage – when their kingdom was taken over by The Darkness, and the leader that summoned it on their land…

She ran.

"Rachel!" Her brother called, frozen in his place. "We _need _you! _Rachel_!"

But she couldn't stop running. She could feel their pain – the pain of the victims that were the happy people of her kingdom just earlier that day, she could hear their screams in her ears, she could see the horrid Darkness leaving everything destitute in it's path…

She could feel all of it, but she knew she could not stop it.

After what felt like hours of running, Rachel collapsed on the cold, hard ground. At first, she felt only tired and out of breath, but in another second, she screamed out in horrible, nearly unbearable pain. She felt like she was being stabbed in the chest, time after time again. There was no knife that caused her stabbing, but still she bled from her chest, and with every new scream of pain come more rushes of blood, as if she _really were_ stabbed. So that was it, then. Her people were dying, and she could not stop it. She was dying, and she could not stop it. Rachel curled up on the ground now, sticky with sweat and covered in a pool of her own blood, and waited to die.

In Lima, Ohio, Finn and Rachel exchanged a worried glance. Ms. Washington was back, and she would surely notice that Quinn and Puck were missing, not to mention what she would do to poor Kurt now. As quietly and unnoticeably as she could, Rachel stepped out of line and tugged on Kurt's arm.

"Kurt…Kurt, please wake up…"

He did, thankfully, and with one look he knew what was going on. They stepped back into line before Ross got down to where they were – but his bed, messy from when he was asleep, remained unmade, not to mention the fact that Kurt himself looked as white as a ghost, and was probably dehydrated now, or worse.

"Kurt…" Ms. Washington spoke gravely once she got down to them.

"Yes, Ms. Washington?"

"Why is your bed unmade?"

"I…I…"

She banged her wooden switch into her hand.

"I was sleeping, Ms. Washington."

"After sleeping hours?"

"Yes, Ms. Washington."

"Turn."

_Oh no_ – Rachel's heart leapt. Whenever Ms. Washington said 'turn', it meant the orphan she was addressing was going to get beaten. Rachel herself had been beaten many times before – it wasn't so much the beating that hurt, it was the humiliation, and not being able to eat for the next twenty-four hours wasn't the best, either. Just then, the window opened – it was Puck and Quinn coming back.

"What have we _here_?" Ross demanded, seeing them try to sneak in.

"W-we – "

"Not one word!" Ross boomed. "_Turn_, all three of you, _now_!"

"_Wait_!" Rachel yelled. "No, not them! It…it was all _me_, Ms. Washington. _I_ told Kurt to go back to sleep, _I _told Noah and Quinn to sneak out. Please, spare them, and punish me."

"Rachel, don't – " Finn started, but she interrupted him:

"No, Finn, _it was me_!" Then, turning back to the woman in charge: "it was all me."

Ms. Washington told her to turn, and she did. Rachel was beaten again that day, but it wasn't so much the beating that hurt her, it was the injustice of it all. Maybe Finn was right. They had to leave – _all _of them – as soon as possible.

**So, review please?**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry I haven't updated in so long, I was on vacation, and my muse for writing has been off the wall lately. Remember to review to tell me what you think. Thanks and enjoy.**

"_People always say 'life is full of choices'. No one ever mentions fear._" – _Anastasia_

_Chapter Five_

Before Rachel closed her eyes, she had one last look at the stars. They were bright, as they always had been – as if they were looking back at her, pleading with her. Even when the wave of thick, black, angry darkness that filled the night sky like dense, smothering smoke, they were still bright – bright even in the face of their dark demise. Rachel looked one last time at the stars, and saw them shine brighter than they ever had, like a sudden burst of pure, untouched light. In another moment, they were gone – masked by The Darkness that her aunt had released.

It was over, she told herself. Her mother was dead, and evil had overpowered them. It was over.

Rachel lied on the cold, stone-like ground, in a puddle of her own blood. Though she had not been stabbed or injured herself, she could feel every injury of her people now, only magnified by the degree of the power she now possessed. A simple scrape felt like a stab wound, and a stab wound felt like no other pain that Rachel had ever experienced or heard of – there was nothing to compare it to. Not only did she feel her people's pain, but also she heard their thoughts, heard their voices, heard their desires all in her head as clearly as her own. She could hear her people's screams so clearly now, as Sue's army invaded Star Land. She felt their fear, heard their cries, saw their screaming thoughts and cries for the help of their Queen…but their Queen was dead…

There was nothing Rachel could do.

With every new feeling of pain or fear, with every new cry or scream, with any plea for help at all, Rachel's tiara – which, before her mother's death, had been silver, but was now a bright gold – shone brighter in the dark blackness. The Family Crest of a single star seemed to glow before her, and even her eyes were filled with light. But it was too late. Rachel's own thoughts – when they weren't clouded by those of her people – told her this was true. No matter what new powers she had suddenly obtained, no matter what thoughts or feelings that crowded her own head, no matter what sort of evil dark magic that was killing her land and people, Rachel knew one thing to be true: she was no Queen. It was too late.

"It's my fault…" she moaned, with one last look at the stars. "It's my _fault_! Why – why didn't I get to you fast enough? Why didn't I stop her before she killed you? Why…" she cried her own, defeated tears for a single moment before continuing: "why can't I save them like you could, Mother? Why can't I be brave like you were, Father? Why…why can't I save them…why can't I…"

And when Rachel's eyes closed, the last thing she saw were the precious stars being swallowed up by The Darkness.

"_Pssst_…Kurt. _Pssssssssst_!" Quinn nudged the sleeping orphan boy in his bed that night. "Kurt – Kurt, wake up!" Finally the boy's blue-ish eyes creaked open, and he saw the blonde girl standing over him.

"Qu-Quinn…?" He stuttered, sitting up a bit in bed. "Wh-what's going on?"

"We have to hurry," she told him, helping him out of bed and placing a brown trunk before him. "I packed your things while you were sleeping. Rachel, Finn and Puck are waiting for us – we thought we'd let you sleep some more, being sick and all, and – "

" – Quinnie," he interrupted her. "_What_ is going on?" She took him by the hand, and creaked open a window.

"We have to hurry," she repeated, and slipped out of the window onto the dew-covered, dawn-lit grass. Once Quinn helped Kurt out of the same window too, she added: "we're going on an adventure."

Quinn gripped Kurt's hand again and together they ran – they ran because, if they walked, they feared they would be caught by Ms. Washington, or one of the goons she kept around to keep tabs on and scare the orphans for her. Once it felt like hours of running, Kurt and Quinn stopped on a boardwalk, hearing the waves slush and stir beneath them.

"We're nearly there," Quinn told him.

"Where are we?" Kurt asked. "What part of Lima is this? Where are we even going?" With that, Quinn pulled a long, rolled-up piece of paper out of the backpack she had on her back. She unfolded it and showed it to Kurt – it looked like some sort of treasure map, only it had a big _X _right where he and Quinn were. As Kurt moved to the left, so did the _X_. As he moved to the right, the same happened.

"What is that?" He asked another question. "How is it doing that?"

"Magic."

In another moment, a small sailboat met them at the dock. Puck, Finn, and Rachel were on the boat, and once she stepped onto the small boardwalk that Quinn and Kurt stood on, Rachel asked Puck:

"Are you sure you know how to drive this thing properly?"

"Sure I do," Puck responded. "How hard can it be?"

Quinn handed Rachel the map, and the brunette girl and Finn shared a nod of acknowledgement.

"Ready to go?"

"Wait!" Kurt let out. "Know one's told me anything! Where are we going? Why are we leaving? Where did you get this map? Why is it magic? What – "

But Rachel stopped him with:

"Kurt, I honestly don't know the answer to those questions. All I know is, we're going _away from here_. Now – are you ready to go?" Kurt hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said:

"Yes. I'm ready to go."

"Me too!" Quinn added.

"I've been ready since I was brought to that horrible place," Puck said. "Good riddance!"

"You know I'm ready," Finn told Rachel.

"Alright," she said, climbing back into the sailboat. "Then let's go."

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